Justice Musa Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, rejected an application by the Federal Government to have Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan arrested for failing to appear for the start of her defamation trial.
The government is prosecuting Akpoti-Uduaghan on behalf of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello. At the day’s proceeding, the prosecuting counsel, David Kaswe, told the court that the matter was for arraignment but that the defendant was not in court.
Kaswe told the court that he served the charge on the defendant’s counsel which meant that the defendant was well aware of the matter. The prosecutor prayed the court for a bench warrant to be issued against the defendant for failing to appear in court despite being aware of the charge against her.
“It was this morning that we were able to serve the defendant through her counsel but the defendant is not in court. “So, it means the defendant is aware of this matter but decided not to appear in court, in the light of this, I apply that a bench warrant be issued against her for failure to attend court to take her plea in this criminal charge,” Kaswe said.
Counsel for Akpoti-Uduaghan, Jacob Usman (SAN), told the court that he found the application of the prosecution strange and uncourteous.
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